Devotion
by acourtofthornsandbooks
Summary: Three brothers, three different love stories... Love never hurt so much. (My other penname is charrrr)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The man knew all about savants.

He knew they were evil. They were born from the devil. They would result in the end of the human race – non-savant humans, anyway. No doubt they would eventually destroy each other too.

For centuries now, his people had been attempting to rid the world of the evil that was savants, but it was hard considering they were just ordinary humans and had no powers like the devil's children did. His people had lost their own along the way, but those lost people were worthy sacrifices – dying for the cause was a dream for them all, second only to actually winning this damn war.

Twenty-two years ago their leader had died, and much to the man's delight he himself had been elected as the new leader.

With him in charge, he decided that things were going to change. He was going to take measures his predecessors had never even considered. He would make his organization stronger than ever.

After a long wait, things were finally coming together and he was ready.

Ready to take things further.

Ready to send his men out.

Ready to save the world.

Ready to destroy the savant race.

* * *

The world could be a very disconcerting place for people like Scarlett Thorne. She could quite clearly see groups of people pass her by, talking and laughing with each other, could see food trays being slammed onto the top of the pile, could see the cafeteria staff shouting over the noise of the students as they took orders.

She could _see_ all of this happening. But she couldn't _hear_ it.

To be honest, she wasn't quite sure if what she imagined the world's sounds being like were what it all actually did sound like.

When she was alone at busy times like these, she often felt quite isolated. She had been deaf her whole life, she didn't know any different, so isolation was a feeling she was used to, especially at school. She couldn't interact with her peers like she wanted to, with the exception of a small few. Her classmates didn't know her language, couldn't understand her. It was easier on them if they just ignored her as much as they could.

She knew that things could be worse. Plenty of deaf children had to go to specialized schools for the deaf, to avoid being bullied and to get an education that was good for them. Scarlett knew that she had it easy in this sense – she was never outright bullied and she had a few good friends in her life that took the isolated feeling away, and classes were never difficult for her because she always had a learner support by her side to be her interpretor. A woman named Julie was with her twice a week, and a young man named Lucien three times a week.

She liked Julie and Lucien. Julie had been working with her since she was seven, Lucien had started working with her last year. Both understood that although she often needed their help understanding the teacher, she still wanted to remain independent and they were glad that they gave her this freedom. Scarlett insisted on being without them during breaks and lunchtime, and they had gone along with it.

Still though, looking around the cafeteria and seeing all these people taking their hearing for granted… it did make her wish that she was a hearing person, even if it was only for a day. It was like an enigma to her, she just wished to know what it felt like to be able to hear all the clutter of a school cafeteria.

The days she thought like this, feeling sorry for herself, she called her 'bad days'. She didn't want to mope around like this. The truth was, she was happy with her life. She had family and friends that loved her, and being deaf was a part of who she was. Most days it didn't bother her, but on her bad days it did. But everybody had bad days no matter what their situation was, right?

Taking another bite of her home-made BLT sandwich, Scarlett finally spotted one of her friends. Her best friend. Zed Benedict. He was slowly making his way across the room and towards their usual table that she was sat at, but it was taking him a while because of all the people stopping him for a conversation. Zed was very popular at school and fit in with a lot of the different cliques: the sports group, the band geeks, and the bikers were just the main ones that he got along with. He was even in with the science geeks, but that was mainly because his older brother Yves was one of them.

And of course, Zed's good looks certainly contributed to him being so well-liked. With his tall, lean build, his light brown skin, and that gorgeous thick dark hair, he stood out in a crowd that was for sure. But boy did he know it.

Scarlett made an attempt to smooth down her unruly, short, chestnut-coloured hair as Zed took the seat across from her with a relaxed smile on his face. Her hair was cut short to her head but was thick and frizzy, so there was still plenty of it there. Giving up on the impossible task of controlling it, she smiled back at her friend.

"Sorry I'm late." Zed spoke out loud, knowing that Scarlett was a genius at reading lips, a talent she'd had to master over the years so that she could get by in the world. However Zed also knew that she had to concentrate to read lips and it could be tiring for her to do it all, so his hands spoke for him too using American Sign Language. ASL made life so much easier for Scarlett; it made it so that she could actually have a conversation with somebody. "Ash needed me to look at his bike."

"Is he ditching again?" Scarlett signed, referring to Zed's other best friend who was hardly ever at school these days.

Zed nodded. "Is that a surprise really? I don't blame him though, this place is a shit-hole."

Scarlett rolled her eyes. It was only recently that Zed had stopped cutting class himself, and that was only because his parents threatened to send him away to boarding school if he didn't get himself sorted out. Changing the subject, she started to sign a question to him but stopped halfway through when she realised he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her.

Instead, he was looking over at Mia Wilson, the queen bitch of the school. She was twirling her bleach blonde hair around a finger and flashing Zed a flirty smile. Their eyes were locked across the room to each other, and Scarlett's heart sank at the sight of it. Zed and Mia had briefly dated two years ago, briefly meaning it lasted for eight months but in Zed's own words was never serious. Why would he ever be interested in Mia again? Mia had slept with practically all the attractive guys at school, plus she was a total cow to literally everybody.

The answer to that question was pretty obvious: Mia was hot. Scarlett may have been Zed's best friend, but she seriously hated his morals when it came to choosing a girl.

Angry at losing his attention, she banged on the table until he broke eye contact with Mia and turned in his seat to face Scarlett again. "I said," she signed, "that my brother's back next week and mom's throwing a party for him. Will you come?"

Zed, who had still been checking Mia out out of the corner of his eye, nodded distractedly. "Sure," he replied. "Look, I'll see you in Maths later, okay?" Without even glancing at his friend again, he pushed his chair back and strode towards Mia. He left his lunch on the table, untouched.

Scarlett ate the rest of her lunch alone, repeatedly glancing over at Zed and Mia, seeing them flirt. Mia had her hands all over Zed, as if making a point to all the other girls that Zed was hers and always would be.

Scarlett knew that wasn't the case. When they were thirteen, Zed had confided in her about what he and his family were: savants. He'd told her that they were just like ordinary people, except they had powers and had their own secret little world. They even had their own authorities, the savant net.

He'd also told her about soulfinders. All savants had a soulmate, conceived around the same time as them. Their perfect match. Some never met their soulfinder seeing as they could be anywhere in the world, but those that did… well they lived happily ever after, basically. Zed had told her that when he found his soulfinder, he just knew that he would never look at another girl again.

Watching him with Mia, Scarlett hated herself for how it made her feel. _It's just a stupid crush,_ she told herself. _It's not like you're in love with him or anything._

She was lying to herself and bloody well knew it too.

She just wished that she was telling herself the truth. She didn't want to be in love with her best friend, a guy who had never thought of her in that way and never would. God, if it hurt her seeing him with girls like Mia what would it feel like when his soulfinder came along?

Pathetic. She was being pathetic. These thoughts were another thing to blame her bad day for. She always disliked girls who just sulked about boys all the time, yet here she was doing just that. What a hypocrite.

Annoyed at herself, she left the cafeteria, trying to resist but not being able to stop herself from looking back and seeing if Zed had noticed she'd left. It wasn't the first time she'd walked away while he was chatting some girl up, and every time she looked back. She wished that for just once, he would be watching her leave, showing that he was thinking about her. _Notice me._

He never did.

* * *

Aaron Benedict was only in Wrickenridge, Colorado for the week. At twenty-five years old, he had a stable job as an accountant and had a nice apartment in New York. This wasn't his first time in Wrickenridge however, he had visited on numerous occasions and made sure to come by at least for a weekend every month to visit his uncle Saul and his wife, plus their seven sons.

In fact he'd only planned on staying for the weekend this time too but had extended his time here after remembering his cousin's twenty-seventh birthday was coming up. He still had no idea what to get Trace, but he doubted that his cousin would even care because of the state he was currently in.

Aaron was staying in his cousin Victor's apartment, the two of them being pretty close seeing as they were the same age and had grown up around each other, and as he left the apartment on Tuesday morning he was in a good mood. The sun was shining, reflecting his cheeriness, and he smiled at strangers as he passed them.

He was happy with his life. He was single and waiting for the right man to come along – who would ideally be his soulfinder, but he knew not to set his hopes on that too much – and his family wholeheartedly accepted him for who he was. He had a job he loved, a dog that he doted on, his first niece or nephew on the way. He didn't have any complaints about life, really.

As Aaron stepped around a child's bike that had been left on the path, he thought he heard a low moan that sounded like somebody crying for help. Looking around in alarm, Aaron didn't see anyone else on the street and at first thought he must have been imagining it until he heard it again.

It was coming from the alleyway across the street so Aaron quickly hurried over to it. He wasn't the kind of person to ignore something like that.

The alleyway was small and had a large garbage bin crammed into it. The stench was horrific, smelling of rotten food and God knows what else.

"Hello?" he called out, stepping over a lone ragged shoe. "Is anyone here?"

"Help..." the call was soft and pained, a man's voice.

Squeezing his body between the wall and the garbage bin, Aaron found a man slumped to the floor. His hand was clutching at his stomach and his dark eyes were looking up at Aaron. "Please help," he gasped. "Please... He hurt me... It hurts so much..." He looked down, not meeting Aaron's gaze again.

Crouching down, Aaron reached a hand out to hold the man's shoulder. He was concerned obviously, and wanted to help him however he could. With his other hand, he pulled his cell out of his pocket so he could call 911. Before dialling he asked the man, "what happened to you? Where are you hurt?" When there was no response, he asked another question in a gentle tone, hoping that he could get past the man's pain so he could help him. "Can you tell me your name?"

"It… It doesn't matter. My name doesn't matter." The man looked up, a smile on his face. Aaron registered that the man's voice was no longer stilted. Instead, it was confident and bold. No stammer to it at all. And the man wasn't holding himself in pain anymore.

Aaron's breathing became heavier as a natural instinct told him that this was dangerous and he should run. But before he could tell his body to move, the man struck.

The arm that had been held tightly to the man's body lifted up, revealing a sharp knife. He moved too quick for Aaron to even shout in alarm, the knife disappearing into Aaron's neck.

As Aaron fell so he was kneeling, blood quickly leaving the wound, he dropped his cell to the ground. All he could do was clutch at his neck and look up at the man in alarm. He didn't understand. He had come into the alleyway to help this man, why he repay that by stabbing Aaron? What did he ever do to deserve this?

The man pulled the knife out of Aaron's neck, and Aaron knew he was a goner. The blood was endless, his heart was slowing down, his life was slowly leaving him.

He fell backwards, laying down on the grimy, dirt-ridden ground. His hands fell away from his neck and the last thing he saw was the man's face as he got close up to Aaron and whispered, "that's for turning down the A.O.M."

* * *

As the savant finally died, Theo Collins let out a long breath. His people had been stalking the guy for days, noticing that he always went for a walk every morning, taking the same route each time. Theo had insisted on being the one to make the kill.

He knew that the savant was a Benedict. An extended family member, but still a Benedict nevertheless. Almost everybody in the savant world knew about the Benedicts and knew how often they betrayed their people for their own gain. It was disgraceful. Theo was glad that he was able to say he'd taken one of them out.

The guy had deserved it for not joining the A.O.M. He had been told there would be repercussions for that decision, had he seriously thought nobody would come for him?

Having been tense whilst waiting for his victim to arrive, Theo was now totally relaxed. He wiped his blade clean on the already bloody shirt the dead savant was wearing, before he rose to his feet and left the alleyway.

He was whistling a happy tune to himself, without a care in the world about the crime he had just committed.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note:

Thank you to my two reviewers xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx and Kiauna Gray!

I'm going to shamelessly self-promote myself here... I have started to update my other story, The Best Of You, again. It's under a different account name (charrrr). Check it out? :D

Anyway, here's chapter two. It's aim mainly is to show the Zed/Scarlett friendship from his point of view, and to introduce Will's part of the story. Please read and review!

Charlotte.x

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

The man looked over at his subordinate as he entered the small, dark office he was occupying. Theo Collins was a thirty year old man, tall and muscular, with dark skin and hair styled in cornrows. His brown eyes were cold and cruel, and a nasty scar lifted the left side of his lip up.

"Sit," the man commanded, gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of the table to him.

Theo did as he was told, cramming his huge body into the too-small chair. "Sir," he started the conversation, "I just wanted to inform you that I've had contact with our spy in the police force. There are no leads on the Aaron Benedict murder that the spy knows of, but there are rumours in the station about a possible witness."

The man raised his eyebrows. He didn't explode in anger at Theo like he wished to, knowing that his people were actually much more scared of him when he remained calm and calculating. "Collins, please do tell me what use you are to me if you cannot even kill somebody without being seen. Hmm? Because my mind is going blank on the answer to that question."

Theo copied his boss and stayed calm instead of getting ruffled. Earned him a little respect there, the man had to admit. "I'm not worried about the potential witness, sir. No doubt it's somebody wanting a little attention, some time on the news. I scoped the place out before I took the guy down, there was no-one around. I wouldn't make a mistake and let you down, sir. I'll do what I was hired for."

The man nodded his head once in acceptance of Theo's obedience. "Good, that's what I like to hear. One more thing before you go, Collins."

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm not going to mention any names, but it's been brought to my attention that you've been returning to your mother's house. Is this true?"

"Not exactly," Theo replied slowly, shifting in his seat. "I've only been back a couple of times and I stayed across the road, nobody saw me. I just wanted a glimpse of my daughter, sir."

"I can understand that. It would pain me to be away from my own children, and I have to admit I'm not looking forward to the upcoming day my daughter is leaving even if I will still have regular contact with her," the man confessed unashamedly. "However, I can't risk you being seen and I made you swear that you wouldn't go back to your family. That part of your life is over now. Do not go back there, or anywhere near your family, again. Do you understand?

"Yes, sir." No emotion showed on Theo's face at being told he couldn't see his daughter again. Did he even care about her really?

"As a punishment, you're to clean all the gym equipment tomorrow night on your own." It was a good punishment considering the amount of people that used the equipment – it would all be soaked in various people's sweat. "You may leave now. Go and find my son, tell him I have matters to discuss with him."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

* * *

Zed always loved going to Scarlett's house. It was a small, three-bedroomed house that stood alone, with an exterior made to look like an old English Tudor house. Zed's house was twice the size and, despite only two of his brothers still also living at home, was always busy and full of people. It was always noisy and impossible to find peace in.

Scarlett's house on the other hand was only occupied by her, her parents, and her little brother. Her older brother was in the Navy, but came home as often as he could. It was always quiet there, always warm and welcoming. Zed's bedroom at home was one of the smallest, whereas Scarlett's parents had converted the attic into a bedroom and en-suite to give her her own space.

It was always calm and tranquil in the Thorne household, a nice break from his own.

Three days after Aaron's death, Zed pulled his motorbike into the Thorne's driveway. Climbing off the bike, he left his helmet on the seat, not being able to leave it in the trunk seeing as Scarlett's helmet was always kept in there.

"Afternoon," he heard a cheery voice. Looking over, he saw Ella Thorne leaving the front door dressed in gardening gear. Ella had the same chestnut hair as her daughter but whilst Scarlett's was short, Ella had grown hers to her waist and wore it braided the majority of the time. She was also petite like Scarlett and the two looked a lot alike in the face. It was basically like looking at an older version of his friend, but whilst Ella had a boyish figure and was flat-chested, Scarlett had curves and an ample chest – although Scarlett tried to hide her figure as much as she could, especially at school.

She headed over to the rose bushes that were always blooming with life in the summer. "It's nice to see you again, Zed. I was sorry to hear about your cousin. Scarlett said that you haven't been in school the second half of the week?"

Zed shook his head. Three days off school would usually be something he enjoyed, but it hadn't been this time. He'd been hidden away in his bedroom, not wanting to face his family. Their grief would have just made him more miserable. He'd barely spoken to any of them and hadn't answered his phone to any of his friends, not even Scarlett. He'd just wanted to be alone.

"Thanks, Ella." After having known Scarlett since kindergarten he was on first names basis with her parents and was practically a part of the family, just like she was a part of his. "Is Scarlett in?"

"She's out back," she replied with a friendly smile.

Zed thanked her and headed round the side of the house to the back garden, knowing that Ella had meant Scarlett was in the treehouse. Alan, Scarlett's father, worked in construction and had built a treehouse for his kids when Zed and Scarlett were around seven years old.

Built in a wide cedar tree, the treehouse was sturdy, strong, and relatively large for a home-made treehouse. It was painted white and had a balcony that went all the way around the thing, as well as actual glass windows and a door.

Zed had been so envious when he'd seen the finished results. He'd begged his own dad to build one, but it had never happened. However when her brothers had had no interest in the treehouse, Scarlett had claimed it as hers and Zed's. So ever since, for the last nine years, it had been their special place and neither of them had ever brought anyone else here. It was just for the two of them, the way they liked it.

Zed easily climbed up the ladders, stepping onto the balcony before pushing open the door. Over the years, they had made it like their tiny little home inside. The ground was carpeted in red, the walls painted cream. There was a small, two-shelved bookcase crammed full in the corner, two plush red beanbag chairs, an array of blankets and sheets piled on top of each other with a few cushions to form a make-shift bed, and one wall was full of photos of the two of them that had been taken over the years.

Scarlett was in a long maxi dress, and of course it was black. Black was her signature colour and Zed was pretty sure she hadn't worn another colour in years. Her short hair was sticking out all over the place like usual, and also like usual she wore no make up other than her black nail varnish.

She was curled up on one of the beanbags reading a book, and didn't seem to register his appearance as he came in. She jumped and dropped the book, startled, as he sat on the other beanbag and tapped her shoulder.

"Sorry," he said and signed as she glared at him. "I didn't mean to scare you, it's not like I could knock or shout out I was coming in."

Scarlett rolled her eyes at his deaf joke. He wasn't worried he'd offended her, they were that close that they could make jokes like that to each other all the time. "You didn't answer my texts," she signed. "I was worried about you. I came to the house, but Yves said you wanted to be alone and probably wouldn't let me in even if he asked. I'm really sorry about Aaron. Are you okay?"

He opened his mouth, about to say that he didn't want to talk about it like he had been doing with his family but stopped himself at the last second. He didn't have any secrets from Scarlett, and he always told her how he was feeling. About anything. For some reason she was just easy to talk to, sometimes more than his family even.

When he'd woken up this morning and decided to come over to the Thorne's, he hadn't known why he felt so desperate to see Scarlett. Now though, he realized it was for this: he wanted to talk to her, he wanted her to take his mind off his dead cousin. In the eleven years that they'd known each other, she'd always been so good at making him feel better. It was one of the reasons he cherished their friendship so much and why he hoped that things would always be this way, that nothing would ever stop them from being friends.

He started to speak, talking fast and forgetting to sign, but stopped when she clapped twice to get his attention.

When he looked back at her she signed, "slow down. You're talking too fast, I can't see what you're saying. I don't mind if you don't sign, just speak slowly."

Giving her an apologetic look he started again, talking more clearly and signing along with his words despite what she'd said. "I miss him," he started. "Aaron was a friend, and I did things with him that I didn't even do with my brothers. Like, he was the one who gave me my first beer. He was the one I spoke to after I first had sex, well after I talked to you of course. He was the one that helped me fix up Trace's old motorbike so I could use it.

"It's just hard to believe that he won't be a phone call away anymore, you know? Will and Victor saw the crime scene, heard them telling dad it looked pretty brutal. I don't know who'd want to hurt Aaron. He didn't have a bad bone in his body."

Scarlett's expression was full of pity and she reached out to squeeze Zed's hand before signing, "he seemed really nice when I met him, even if I couldn't talk to him. I'm sure your brothers will make the person responsible pay for what they did, if that's any consolation."

Zed nodded, feeling a little better already just like he knew would happen if he came over here. "Thanks, Scar. Can we please not talk about it anymore? It's all I've thinking about for days now. Take my mind off it?"

Scarlett paused in contemplative silence for a moment before a sly smile appeared on her face, her brown eyes lighting up with humour. "I have load of algebra homework waiting for me in my bedroom you can help me with."

"Seriously? You're the brainy one, I'm not going to be much help," he smirked.

"Yeah but if you're trying to figure out the answers, you won't be able to think of anything else," she pointed out.

Zed groaned, knowing she was right even if he did despise algebra. "I hate you."

Scarlett fell into a silent laughter before signing, "no, you don't. You love me."

"You're right," he sighed in fake-sadness. "It makes me wish I wasn't the only one to talk to you in kindergarten all those years ago. If only I wasn't so nice, I never would have ended up with a friend as annoying as you."

Scarlett scrunched her nose up, grinning as she smacked him on the arm. "You're an idiot, Zed."

* * *

Will Benedict walked up to the bar of the nightclub with his friends, flagging a bartender down and ordering a Jack and Coke. When the glass was finally in his hand, he took a slow sip, turning around so his back was leaning against the black marble of the bar. Will enjoyed a good drink, but hadn't been out-of-his-mind drunk for over a year now.

At twenty-two years old, he was finally starting to get his life together. After three years of being in and out of college constantly switching courses, as well as having random short-term jobs like working in a supermarket, last year he had finally figured out what he wanted to do. His older brother Victor was an FBI agent and a special agent for the savant net, and that was exactly what Will wanted to do. It fit with his power of sensing danger, at least.

Will had always admired how successful Victor was and had started to look up to him a lot more this past year. He didn't want to be Victor but he trying his hardest to be more like him. He was trying to be more sensible than laid-back, more focused than lazy. Victor had become his mentor as he trained for the job, and Will was thankful for the help. It would all just make him the best agent he could possibly be.

Victor wasn't teetotal, but he didn't make a habit of going out and getting drunk often, so this last year Will had been trying to do the same thing. He and his friends went out once a week on average, and instead of drinking himself into a dumb stupor, he spent the night having fun and trying to pick someone up. His attempts at taking someone home for the night always succeeded – girl or boy, he didn't have a preference. They always fell for his charms when he put them on.

When somebody nudged his arm with an elbow, he looked to his right. J.J., short for James Jones, had been Will's friend since J.J. had moved to Wrickenridge seven years ago. They had a lot in common, such as their love for sport, their sexual orientation, and both were savants. A couple years ago they'd spent the night together just to see if there was anything between them, but decided the morning after that they were just better off friends.

"Didn't think you'd come out tonight," J.J. admitted in a Texan accent. He was a head shorter than Will, with fiery red hair and a lip piercing. "Shouldn't you be with your family right now?" He wasn't asking tentatively. They were good enough friends that they could be blunt with each other.

"I don't want to talk about my cousin," Will replied, downing the rest of his drink. He didn't care about his rule of not getting drunk. Tonight, that was all he wanted and he figured he was allowed one night to break the rules. "I have enough of talking about him all day at work. I came out tonight to take my mind off it. I want to get drunk, take someone home and fuck them, then pass the hell out."

"Alright then," J.J. shrugged his shoulders. Will guessed that he was glad he hadn't wanted to talk about it. J.J. wasn't the kind of guy who liked talking about feelings. "What're you in the mood for tonight?"

Will looked away from his friend and started scanning the crowd of people. This particular club was known for being a hotspot for attractive people and tonight was no exception. His eyes lingered on a tall blonde woman with amazing legs and was about to choose her.

But then he saw the guy stood against the wall, directly under one of the wall lights.

From this distance, he looked average height. He was dressed impeccably well, his dark shirt was pristine and probably designer. He had smooth brown skin and a shaved head; he was beautiful. Leaning against the wall with a drink in his hand, it looked like he was alone but unbothered by this fact. He looked so cool and Will couldn't take his eyes off him.

"I want him," he said to J.J., not taking his eyes off the stranger.

As if sensing his attention, the guy looked up. His brown eyes met Will's. Will took a sharp intake of breath as a spark shot through his body, speeding his pulse up.

A crooked smile grew on the guy's face, almost as if he knew exactly how he was affecting Will.

Leaving his empty glass on the bar, Will started walking towards the guy, determined that he would be going home with him tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

Not a very happy chapter unfortunately, but it builds up main plotlines for the rest of the story so it's kind of necessary!

Please leave reviews.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Lucien, dressed in sweatpants and topless, padded barefoot into his kitchen. His first task was to fill up the kettle and get the water boiling. A nice cup of tea was always just what he needed to wake up. He couldn't stomach coffee, so tea it was.

Looking out of the window, he watched the morning traffic pass by below his third-floor flat. He lived close to the Denver city centre so his street tended to be pretty busy the majority of the time. It didn't bother Lucien though. He had grown up in New York before his mom moved him and his brother here when he was thirteen, and he found that these busy streets reminded him of his old home. Of how happy his family had been then compared to what they were like now.

After making his cup of tea, he sat down at the small two-seater table he had. Last night had been a wild one, he thought to himself. After a long week at work, working as a learner support staff at Wrickenridge High School, he had decided to go for a night out. He'd deserved it, he'd decided. He supported a deaf girl the first three days of the week, and a boy with various health and behavioural problems the last two days – he truly did love his job, but it could be challenging and he was always exhausted by the end of the week.

Going out solo wasn't an issue for him. He figured that after a few drinks he'd get the kind of confidence a drunk person got and wouldn't feel too awkward dancing with strangers. That's what usually happened. Last night had been different though because last night he saw _him_.

The guy at the bar had been tall and had a rugby build, making him look big and powerful. His dark hair had been ruffled, light stubble shaping his face. Lucien had noticed him as soon as he had reached the bar and couldn't take his eyes off him. God, he'd been lovely to look at. After finally looking away for a short minute, he'd looked back over at the guy. Who was looking straight at him too. His gaze had oozed sexuality that had shot straight to Lucien's crotch.

The guy had walked over to Lucien and kissed him, just like that. The next hour had been spent drinking and dancing, prolonging the inevitable. There had been such tension between them and they'd barely looked away from each other, totally oblivious to everybody else surrounding them.

As the kitchen door opened, Lucien looked up and met the light brown eyes of the guy from the club. When they couldn't handle it anymore last night, they'd come back here and had the best sex of their lives. Well, he wasn't sure how it'd been for the other guy but for him it had been the best.

"Hey," the guy said in a deep voice. He ran a hand through his already messy hair, having that awkward air around him that one did after a one night stand. "Um, you got any coffee?"

"No, sorry. Don't buy the stuff. There's tea," Lucien offered, gesturing towards the tea bags left out on the counter.

The guy grimaced as if even the thought of drinking tea disgusted him. Guess they were complete opposites there then, Lucien mused. "Listen..."

"Lucien," he provided his name as he realized that throughout all of last night they hadn't even told each other their names. How the hell had they managed that? "And you are…?"

"Will," the guy replied. "Will Benedict." Lucien raised his eyebrows at the famous surname but made no further comments. "Lucien," Will continued. "I should really go. I have a cat. That needs feeding. So, yeah." He spoke in short sentences, knowing that they both knew he was clearly just looking for any old excuse to leave.

This didn't really bother Lucien. It was all part of having a one night stand, right? At least he presumed it was. Last night had been the first time he'd done that with some random guy. The previous three guys he'd had sex with he'd been in a relationship with, even if it had only been brief and never lasted more than four months. He'd felt something with Will last night though, something he'd never felt before.

Had it been sexual tension? Or something more? It wasn't like he was in love with the guy already, he thought silently. He just felt drawn to him, that was all. Still though, he wouldn't care when Will Benedict left here and they never saw each other again. Even if Will was unbelievably hot and good in bed.

"What's this?" Will's voice brought Lucien out of his thoughts and he looked back up at the guy. Will was pointing to an invitation that was stuck to the fridge. "It's an invitation to a savant fundraiser event," he answered his own question. His eyes met Lucien's, surprised. "Are you a savant?"

Lucien had always been told to never reveal what he was to anybody that wasn't of his kind, but clearly that wasn't the case here like he had thought. He nodded his head. "Yeah. And I'm guessing with the name Benedict, you are too?"

Will closed his eyes and took a breath before looking at Lucien again. He smiled bitterly. "Why can't I ever just meet someone who doesn't judge me by my family?"

"Hey, no judging over here," Lucien held his hands up as if in surrender. "I don't tell people about my family either. We don't have a very good track record of being on the net's side, people often just expect me to be like that too. Which I'm not, for the record."

Will cracked a real smile this time, a half-smile instead of a full one. Now that Lucien thought about it, it was only those little crooked smiles he had seen all of last night too. Was the guy even capable of a real, proper smile?

"Good," Will answered, finally taking the seat across from Lucien. "You know, I've got to admit. This isn't the first one-night stand I've had, but it's the only one I've had with another savant. That I know of anyway."

" _You're not the only one,"_ Lucien replied telepathically, amused.

If Will had been starting to open up and like Lucien, that all changed now. Will quickly jumped out of the chair, almost tripping up as he took a few steps backwards, stopping only when his back hit the fridge. His eyes were wide, his face frozen in shock. No, not shock. _Horror._

"What?" Lucien stood up, looking around. Had Will noticed something that he hadn't? Desperately he repeated, "what? What's going on?"

Will looked at him, mouth opening and closing as if his mouth couldn't frame the words he wanted to say. He wasn't blinking. His entire body was tense, fists clenched by his side. The look on his face was really starting to scare Lucien and he was going to ask again what was wrong, but then he got his answer.

Instead of speaking out loud, Will spoke telepathically. Just one word. _"Soulfinder."_

Lucien felt it straight away. With straight couples, only the guy felt it; with same-sex couples, both involved felt it. Lucien's mind buzzed, an electric current running through it and spreading throughout his whole body. His eyes widened as his chest warmed, his heart beating faster and faster. He'd never experienced such a sensation before but somehow he just knew what it meant. It was instinctual, in the nature of a savant.

He and Will Benedict were soulfinders.

His mouth was doing the same fish impression that Will's had been. Finally he got his shit together and managed to say, "I don't believe this."

"Yeah I'm a little surprised here too," Will choked out, sarcasm in his tone over having to point out the obvious.

Lucien thought back to everything his dear mom had told him about soulfinders. She believed that people were reincarnated after death, starting entire new lives. But in each of those lives, the soulfinders found each other. Their souls were linked, not whole until they were together. He had always wanted to find his soulfinder despite knowing the unlikely odds of doing so, had thought it would make his life so perfect.

Well, wasn't he just utterly lucky to have Will Benedict as a soulfinder. Thinking of waking up to that face and body every morning was certainly not disappointing. Hope for a new relationship filled him up.

"This is brilliant," he smiled at Will across the table. "I've been waiting for this day for so long. I've been waiting for _you_ for so long. I guess we have a lot of talking to do, eh?"

Finally, Will seemed to come out of shock. But instead of looking as thrilled as Lucien did, he looked angry. "Brilliant?!" He exclaimed, almost a shout. "This is not brilliant! You don't even have any idea what this means for me. I didn't want this," he gestured between the two of them. "I wanted a _female_ soulfinder. I don't want you."

"You sure as hell wanted me last night," Lucien pointed out with a cheeky smile. He was remaining as calm as he could, determined to not let himself get overcome with fury. That never did any good.

"That was different, I thought I'd never see you again!" Will paused for a moment before shaking his head. "That's the way it should be. I gotta get out of here."

Lucien followed Will as he left the kitchen of the flat and walked through the living room. Will opened the front door and paused for a moment. When he didn't turn around or say anything, Lucien spoke instead. "We're soulfinders, Will. That's not just something you can run away from and forget." He could hear the pain in his own voice at his soulfinder walking out on him, so he knew that Will must have heard it too.

When Will replied, he sounded exhausted. "I can try," he said.

He slammed the door shut behind him.

* * *

Trace Benedict was in a god awful mood when he got home from the station Monday evening. His tired brain didn't even register the fact that his apartment door was already unlocked when he tried the handle. Or it if did register it, he sure didn't care.

Closing the front door behind him, he looked around the open space that was his living room and kitchen.

Mom and dad were on the sofa. Victor and Will leaning against the breakfast counter. Yves and Uriel behind their parents, arms folded across their chest. Xav was sat on the arm of the chair. Zed was sat in the chair, with Scarlett perched on his knees.

The whole family were here. Fucking A.

He dropped his keys on the small table next to the door and heaved a sigh. "Okay, I'll bite. What are you all doing here?"

"I think the state of your apartment may explain that, son."

At Saul's response, Trace automatically looked around the place even though he knew exactly what state it was in. Takeaway boxes littered the floor and coffee table, dirty clothes strewn about the place. Empty beer bottles were on every surface available, some even on the floor.

He looked up at the breakfast counter where an unopened pack of six was stood. Trace had already known it was there, of course. It was all he had been thinking about at work today, just waiting for the moment he could home and relieve himself of his sorrows.

Victor put a hand on top of the beer bottles. "These," he said, "are coming home with me."

Trace narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. "I don't think so. They're mine, Vick. I paid for them out of my own money, they are mine."

"Please, Trace." Karla's voice drew his eyes over to her. There were tears in her eyes and she was clutching her husband's hand tightly. "This has been going on for months now. It needs to stop."

"Your boss called me when you were on your way back," Victor spoke in a rough, strict voice. "He said you've been suspended."

Trace shrugged. Honestly, he hadn't cared all that much when his Chief had called him into his office and broken the news to him. The Chief had said that Trace wasn't focusing on his work, was making mistakes and disturbing his colleagues. Trace had walked out of there without speaking a word for his own defence. What was the point? It wouldn't have made a difference. "So what?" He asked. "Is this an intervention or something?"

"If that's what you want to call it." It was Xav that spoke up. Beside him, Zed's hands were all over the place as he interpreted the conversation for Scarlett to make it easier for her to follow. Xav continued speaking. "We're here because we're you're family and we care about you. I can see the damage you're doing to your body with all this drinking and it's not good, Trace. If you continue, you could end up killing yourself."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Xav."

When he heard a clap for his attention, he looked at Scarlett. "He's not being dramatic," she signed. Trace could understand her of course. Over the years of her being in their family, all of them had learned ASL just out of respect for her – some of the family were better at it than others, but they all knew enough to communicate with her. "We know that you're having a tough time," she continued. "You don't talk to us though, Trace. I wish you did, maybe we could help you."

"There's nothing anyone can say that can help me," he said quietly.

The truth was, he was lonely and full of anger. His family wasn't enough to keep him happy anymore. After _she_ left and broke his heart, things had just been getting worse for him. She hadn't been his soulfinder but neither of them had cared. He'd loved her. Two happy years they'd spent together, even talked about getting married… And then she found her soulfinder and chose him over Trace. It'd fucking killed him to stand there and watch her leave, knowing there was nothing he could do to change her mind.

His job didn't help with his depression much either. Years of seeing dead bodies and cruel murderers had taken its toll on him. He was plagued with nightmares of the victims, especially those from the unsolved cases.

The only way he'd found of not having the nightmares and not thinking of her had been by drinking alcohol. He'd turned to it quickly and it hadn't taken long for him to become reliant on it either. He drank in the morning, then went to work. Came home from work, spent the night drinking. It was the new normal for him.

"Trace." He looked over at his dad. Saul looked sad and so disappointed in his eldest son but still, Trace couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't care about anything anymore, he was so numb. "We know that it's got to the stage now where even we can't help you. We should have acted sooner but we thought you'd knock yourself out of it like you always have done before. We can't help you but we think someone else might be able to."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"We've managed to book you into a rehabilitation centre," Saul answered in a straight-forward voice. "They have a three-month programme there where they'll help you get over your addiction to the alcohol and help you figure out how to not go back to it. The manager is a savant and he's arranged for a savant therapist to travel over to help you. You'll be able to be more honest with her than a normal therapist."

"You really think sending me away is the answer?" He scoffed. This was ridiculous. Nothing could help him, let alone rehab. "You can't force me to go, I'm a twenty-seven year old man. I make my own decisions."

"And we're hoping you'll make the right decision," Saul replied. He didn't look surprised about Trace arguing with him. "As your family, we are begging you to take this chance for help. Don't throw the offer away, son. At least try it out."

Karla stood up and faced her son. "It's time for some tough love. If you don't do this Trace, that's it. I don't want a jobless drunk for a son. Refuse to go and you are out of the family. It's your choice."

* * *

 **A hint about the next chapter:** Another soulfinder is introduced.


End file.
